k 



A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



LiBRARV 

 NEW YORK 

 BOTANICAL 



GARDEN 



Vol. III. No. 64. 



BARBADOS, SEPTEMBER 24, 1904. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Avocado Pear in Florida 311 

 Banana Industry in 



U.S. A 



Cacao, Cultivation of 

 Cacao Industry in tlie 



West Indies 

 Cacao in the Dutcli East 



Indies 



Citronieter 



Cotton Industr}- : — 



British Guiana .. 



Gold Coast Colony ... 



Paraguay 



St. Vincent 



Seed Selection 



308 

 311 



... 30.5 



313 



308 



300 

 309 

 300 

 313 

 300 



West Indian in Ens'land 300 



Department News 



Department Publications 



Dominica and Shipping 

 Facilities 



Educational : — 

 Teaching fif Agri- 

 culture in Trinidad 



Exhibitions of Colonial 

 Fruit in Great Britain 



Fish Manure and Oil, 



Production of 



315 

 310 



315 



317 



315 



The Cacao Industry in the West 

 Indies. 



JsE of the articles in the new issue of the 

 We^t Lidlaa Bulletin O'ol. V, no. 2) 

 deals with the cacao industry in these 

 islands. It shows clearly that a very substantial 



progress has been made in recent years: almost every 

 cacao-producing country in the world has of late been 

 increasing its output, and the British West Indies 

 have shared in this increase to no small extent. 

 Taking the last five years, the increase in output 

 from these islands has been something like 50 per 

 cent.— from 337,431 cwt. in 1898 to 495,053 cwt. in 

 1902. 



The industry has grown to such an extent, 

 especially in some of the islands, that cacao occupies 

 a very important place in the list of exports. Thus, the 

 value of the cacao annually exported from Trinidad now 

 exceeds £1,000,000, while from Grenada £250,000 

 worth is exported. Though Trinidad and Grenada are 

 the two most important producers of cacao in the West 

 Indies, there is a continually increasing export from 

 Jamaica, which reached the value of £84,000 in 1901-2, 

 while in 1900 the exports of cacao from St. Lucia 

 formed 17 per cent, of the total exports of the island. 

 Considerable quantities of cacao are also shipped from 

 Dominica, St. Vincent, and British Guiana, while 

 Montserrat and St. Kitt's-Nevis also produce small 

 amounts. 



With regard to the quality of the cacao shipped 

 from the West Indies, that from Trinidad fetches the 

 best price, the bean being said to be 'the finest and 

 best flavoured.' The London prices vary from 65s. to 

 80.*. per cwt. Grenada cacao, although it does not 

 obtain quite as high a price, has a good and regular 

 flavour, and the crop is 'eagerly bought up in British 



